First replay in 15+ years. Some questions.

The wand variations you see are Co8 attempts at adding variable-level wands (with different costs). This is obsolete in Temple+, where you now set the caster level and the price is adjusted automatically, for any wand. So in Temple+ all those MM wands with different numbers will turn out the same.

 

Thanks for the explanation. That was driving me nuts. I wish someone would update that and remove the duplicates because it's confusing.

I also wish the number of charges had never been changed, and I think upping it to 50 from the original 20 charges per wand was a mistake. I get that having 20 charges made wands more expensive than just stacking scrolls, but money isn't really an issue in this game. Besides, how many people are really anal enought to sit there and scribe that many scrolls?

 

Well it's much easier now that you can press alt+click to keep the crafting UI active

Why do you prefer that it's 20 rather than 50? These are the official rules after all... as it was before, you were just paying more for the UI convenience, which is absurd.

About the MM wands, I'd have removed them from the list, but then altering the file would block 3rd party modifications of the crafting list (such as Rudy's mod). Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

I suppose you're right. 50 just seems like an awful lot of charges for an item to have.

Does the barter value of the wand correctly decline as you use up the charges?

 

Hehe, no, it doesn't. Easy money
(You can also scribe cantrip scrolls for no xp cost and sell for pure profit)

 

Really? Usually cantrips count as a 1/2 level spell for item creation.

 

They do count as 1/2 level. Like all the other spell levels, the crafting cost is half the base worth so you can sell at profit. The only difference is that the xp cost (which is equal to gp cost / 25) is rounded to 0, so there is no downside to churning them out (other than the inconvenience).
I suppose I could impose a minimum 1xp cost to plug it.

 

Oh, I see.

I guess it's probably not even worth doing that, really. If someone's going to exploit that, they might as well just give themselves money with the console/DM.

 

Imo, there should have been a limit imposed on how many scrolls you can stack.

 

Wands can be great! I just dislike spending a feat to make them. Scrolls are more expensive en masse, but cheaper per charge, and they apply to more spells. That's why I prefer Scribe Scroll to Craft Wand.

UMD hasn't been a problem for me: I make parties of all casters.

 

With 20 charges wands scribe scrolls being much better: you are control amount of "charges" without any penalty, scribe scroll is lower level feat, wizzards got scribe scroll for free, scroll weight is 0, etc.

 

When is a good time to do 'Grud's fish story"? I assumed I could do it before entering the temple, but that battle is ridiculous. Also, did CO8 change it so that everything on that map attacks you at the same time? Older walkthroughs mention fighting the frogs, the sea hag + lizardmen, and the giant gar separately.

 

IIRC whether the lizards get pulled in is a function of party size.
It's definitely doable before the temple, though a tough fight requiring all the CC/distractions you can throw at it. Worst case you can recruit Otis to help you out with it.
Or bertram as fish bait.

 

I've only got a party of 5 (level 5)